Stonehouse primary pupils rise to charity challenge

Jun 11 2009 by Sandra Walls, Hamilton Advertiser

TWO young schoolgirls have helped raise more than £1000 for an international charity.

Stonehouse Primary P6 pupils Amy Whiteford and Meghan Dunsmore, with the help of teacher Margaret McMeekin, put fund-raising ideas into action after hearing that children in Africa could be fed for a year on just £6.15 per head.

The two girls worked so hard organising a fun run event and other money-making ideas that they have now been made members of the Change Challenge team to promote the work of Mary's Meals in local schools and organisations.

Stonehouse and Newfield primaries each supported the girls’ efforts, and were both involved in making the fun run so successful.

Amy and Meghan said: “The charity we were sponsoring was Mary's Meals who feed the children in the third world for only £6.15 for a whole year.

“We’re aiming to feed children in Malawi and were amazed when we found out we had raised £1067.95 and managed to feed 173 children.

“We were so excited.”

Mrs McMeekin was delighted with the girls’ performance.

They will be next term’s two main girls in the Change Challenge team.

The girls added: “We will be joining the other existing Change Challenge pupils from Newfield Primary, Alex Mitchell, Amy Laing, Taylor Stewart and William Poulton.

“We would like to thank everyone who took part and also to the people who sponsored us all.

“It has been an amazing journey.”

The school’s Change Challenge project began last year when pupils saved loose change in recycled water bottles.

Over £2000 was raised and Jack McConnell MSP encouraged the pupils to promote this enterprise and take it to all schools in Scotland to consider.

At that time the project was supporting Stonehouse Better World but to take an initiative across Scotland required a larger organisation who were able to handle this scale of development.

Mrs McMeekin met Imogen Walsh from Mary's Meals and it was agreed that this Scottish charity would work together with the pupils of both schools in Stonehouse.

Mrs McMeekin wishes to thank Dora Hamilton, Emma Rodgers, Jasmin Valasis and Hannah Gillespie, the original girls in the Change Challenge Team, for all their enthusiasm and for initiating the project in 2008. She wishes them luck as they move on to high school in August.

Auditions for two new members will take place before the end of term at Stonehouse.

Other pupils have also been active in the charity's work. Senior pupils at both schools entered a homework challenge task to create a leaflet to promote 'Loose Change can make a Change'.

Iona Hatcher and Kyle Martin from Stonehouse Primary and Cameron Bell and Ryan Hood at Newfield Primary have designed the winning entries which encourage children to save loose change in their empty recycled water bottles.

Their entries are being sent to Mary's Meals graphic designer who will work on their ideas to create a new flyer for the enterprise.

Mary’s Meals is a global campaign set up by Scottish International Relief.

It costs from £6.15 to feed a child in school in Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, for a year and this donation will assist their work.